Sunday, May 25, 2014

1) 'Walk in the customer's shoes'

Corny, I know, but as a business owner you should be aware of what it is like to experience your organisation as a customer.
Contact your business yourself or get a friend to. Better still, engage
someone to provide a detailed snapshot of his or her experiences. Where
does the experience start? Where does it end? Where are the areas where
your business has the greatest opportunities to impress (or depress)
your customer? You can underpin your findings with the results of an
informal focus group.

2) Make it easy for customers to give their feedback

Is it possible to give out an SMS number, so customers can text in
their comments? Failing that, make sure that in every email you send,
there is a link allowing customers to share any observations or
feedback. Have a high profile link on your website for customers to use
to share their feedback. Publish your own email address and telephone
number and ask for the feedback.

3) Be transparent

You would forgive customers for being sceptical when they receive a
request for feedback; since few are the organisations who appear to take
it seriously, do everything you can to show that you're committed.
Consider putting your customers' feedback on to your website, unedited -
or if this sends a shiver up your spine - summarise, on a regular
basis, what customers are saying (good and bad) and what you're doing
about it.

4) Draw on existing feedback channels

There's likely to be plenty of it around. The likelihood is that both
existing compliments and complaints will give you an indication of
where you might profitably direct effort and resources. Phone up a
customer whose complaint
you resolved some time ago and ask them how they felt about the way
your organisation dealt with it. How did the complaint experience affect
their perceptions of your company?
What does the experience of the complimentary customer tell you? Do
some parts of your business embody your values more than others?

5) Save money on surveys

Use on-line web-based surveys
and save money. From calculating sample sizes to designing, deploying
and analysing the results of an email survey, it's possible to get
feedback from a statistically representative group of customers for less
than £200 (if you're prepared to do the leg work yourself) not to
mention the glow that customers feel when their supplier actually asks
them what they think!
And when you do survey your customers, use the findings from your
snapshot exercise to determine the questions you ask. The snapshot will
have given you a list of moments of truth - and they could be anything
from first impressions, via the ordering process, to your approach to
invoicing or handling problems - so design the survey to let you know
which of these moments of truth are most important, how well your
company delivers them - and ultimately how likely they are to recommend
you?

6) Measure it

Once you have your results, look at the links between the ratings
given to each 'moment of truth' and compare them with the resulting
advocacy scores. You're looking to identify which components of your
customer's experience correlate most strongly to their overall
perceptions of your organisation.
Now you know where to target your improvements, so establish this as
your critical success factor, keep improving ... and send that steak
back.

1) 'Walk in the customer's shoes'

Corny, I know, but as a business owner you should be aware of what it is like to experience your organisation as a customer.
Contact your business yourself or get a friend to. Better still, engage
someone to provide a detailed snapshot of his or her experiences. Where
does the experience start? Where does it end? Where are the areas where
your business has the greatest opportunities to impress (or depress)
your customer? You can underpin your findings with the results of an
informal focus group.

2) Make it easy for customers to give their feedback

Is it possible to give out an SMS number, so customers can text in
their comments? Failing that, make sure that in every email you send,
there is a link allowing customers to share any observations or
feedback. Have a high profile link on your website for customers to use
to share their feedback. Publish your own email address and telephone
number and ask for the feedback.

3) Be transparent

You would forgive customers for being sceptical when they receive a
request for feedback; since few are the organisations who appear to take
it seriously, do everything you can to show that you're committed.
Consider putting your customers' feedback on to your website, unedited -
or if this sends a shiver up your spine - summarise, on a regular
basis, what customers are saying (good and bad) and what you're doing
about it.

4) Draw on existing feedback channels

There's likely to be plenty of it around. The likelihood is that both
existing compliments and complaints will give you an indication of
where you might profitably direct effort and resources. Phone up a
customer whose complaint
you resolved some time ago and ask them how they felt about the way
your organisation dealt with it. How did the complaint experience affect
their perceptions of your company?
What does the experience of the complimentary customer tell you? Do
some parts of your business embody your values more than others?

5) Save money on surveys

Use on-line web-based surveys
and save money. From calculating sample sizes to designing, deploying
and analysing the results of an email survey, it's possible to get
feedback from a statistically representative group of customers for less
than £200 (if you're prepared to do the leg work yourself) not to
mention the glow that customers feel when their supplier actually asks
them what they think!
And when you do survey your customers, use the findings from your
snapshot exercise to determine the questions you ask. The snapshot will
have given you a list of moments of truth - and they could be anything
from first impressions, via the ordering process, to your approach to
invoicing or handling problems - so design the survey to let you know
which of these moments of truth are most important, how well your
company delivers them - and ultimately how likely they are to recommend
you?

6) Measure it

Once you have your results, look at the links between the ratings
given to each 'moment of truth' and compare them with the resulting
advocacy scores. You're looking to identify which components of your
customer's experience correlate most strongly to their overall
perceptions of your organisation.
Now you know where to target your improvements, so establish this as
your critical success factor, keep improving ... and send that steak
back.

1) 'Walk in the customer's shoes'

Corny, I know, but as a business owner you should be aware of what it is like to experience your organisation as a customer.
Contact your business yourself or get a friend to. Better still, engage
someone to provide a detailed snapshot of his or her experiences. Where
does the experience start? Where does it end? Where are the areas where
your business has the greatest opportunities to impress (or depress)
your customer? You can underpin your findings with the results of an
informal focus group.

2) Make it easy for customers to give their feedback

Is it possible to give out an SMS number, so customers can text in
their comments? Failing that, make sure that in every email you send,
there is a link allowing customers to share any observations or
feedback. Have a high profile link on your website for customers to use
to share their feedback. Publish your own email address and telephone
number and ask for the feedback.

3) Be transparent

You would forgive customers for being sceptical when they receive a
request for feedback; since few are the organisations who appear to take
it seriously, do everything you can to show that you're committed.
Consider putting your customers' feedback on to your website, unedited -
or if this sends a shiver up your spine - summarise, on a regular
basis, what customers are saying (good and bad) and what you're doing
about it.

4) Draw on existing feedback channels

There's likely to be plenty of it around. The likelihood is that both
existing compliments and complaints will give you an indication of
where you might profitably direct effort and resources. Phone up a
customer whose complaint
you resolved some time ago and ask them how they felt about the way
your organisation dealt with it. How did the complaint experience affect
their perceptions of your company?
What does the experience of the complimentary customer tell you? Do
some parts of your business embody your values more than others?

5) Save money on surveys

Use on-line web-based surveys
and save money. From calculating sample sizes to designing, deploying
and analysing the results of an email survey, it's possible to get
feedback from a statistically representative group of customers for less
than £200 (if you're prepared to do the leg work yourself) not to
mention the glow that customers feel when their supplier actually asks
them what they think!
And when you do survey your customers, use the findings from your
snapshot exercise to determine the questions you ask. The snapshot will
have given you a list of moments of truth - and they could be anything
from first impressions, via the ordering process, to your approach to
invoicing or handling problems - so design the survey to let you know
which of these moments of truth are most important, how well your
company delivers them - and ultimately how likely they are to recommend
you?

6) Measure it

Once you have your results, look at the links between the ratings
given to each 'moment of truth' and compare them with the resulting
advocacy scores. You're looking to identify which components of your
customer's experience correlate most strongly to their overall
perceptions of your organisation.
Now you know where to target your improvements, so establish this as
your critical success factor, keep improving ... and send that steak
back.